Long school days at Corpus Christi ISD will likely continue next school year

Students in the Corpus Christi Independent School District are getting out 25 minutes later this year, but school zones don't reflect that change. The city didn't change the nearly 1,000 static signs and 149 flashing signs.

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times

Corpus Christi ISD lengthened the school day by up to 23 minutes last year and the decision has caused problems for students, parents and employees alike, said several district employees and parents who took to public comment during Monday's board meeting.

Texas has a mandatory start-date for public schools of the last Monday in August, which was part of the reason trustees lengthened school days last year.

Baker Middle School teacher Todd Moulder, who chairs the committee that helped devise the District of Innovation plan, lamented the board's decision. He said the long days have caused tutoring turnout to suffer because of student work schedules and parents have had to revamp their daily schedules to accommodate.

"The other remedy would be to get the state Legislature to change the law, but of course, they're not in session right now so that doesn't help with next year's students," Moulder said to the Caller-Times after the board's vote. "We'll have to start (the school year) the last Monday of August — which is the state law — and we'll have to get all of the school days in before graduations in 2019.

"The potential of lost vacation days is there and easily the potential for a long school day, like we had this year, is there."

Chief academic officer James Rosebrock confirmed to the Caller-Times that plans to shorten the school day for the upcoming school year will suffer because of the vote.

The District of Innovation designation gives public school districts similar autonomy to open-enrollment charter schools by allowing them to opt out of some provisions of the Texas Education Code.

CCISD assembled a team to explore the District of Innovation designation last year.

The nearly 60-member committee of Corpus Christi ISD parents, administrators, and teachers determined the designation would only be used to gain flexibility in creating the 2018-19 school year calendar.

District 1 trustee John Longoria made the motion to adopt the plan presented to the board Monday, which would have allowed the district to opt-out of the state-mandatory start date of the last Monday in August.

The District of Innovation concept was passed during the 84th Legislative Session in House Bill 1842.

According to the Texas Education Agency, 676 of about 1,024 public school districts have adopted District of Innovation plans as of February. The list includes Calallen, Gregory-Portland, and Robstown independent school districts.

“The (District of Innovation) plan is the only way around this due to the mandatory start date and the fact that teacher contracts are based on 187 days and students’ time in school is based on 75,600 minutes," Moulder said to the board before the vote. "So to afford the ability to balance instructional time in each semester, to remain competitive with neighboring districts, and to remedy the universally unpopular end time with the current daily schedule, the team voted unanimously on this plan."

Nancy Vera, president of the Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers, has spoken out against the District of Innovation concept since it was first introduced last year.

She argues the district can't be trusted with the authority to exempt itself from the Texas Education Code on any matter.

"How can we trust some of these school board members when they have created a culture of distrust?" Vera said of those who voted in favor of the motion. "This vote, indeed, was a no-brainer."

Vera said she's hopeful the district will figure out a way to shorten the school day.

"There is more than one way to skin this calendar," she said.

Corinna Longoria, who represents first-grade teachers on the District Advisory Team, said the team worked on calendar drafts for the 2018-19 school year last week.

One of the drafts took into account the possibility of the proposal not getting the necessary votes on Monday. She said according to that calendar, teachers and students will lose days of vacation during the Thanksgiving week — possibly only getting Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off instead of the entire week.

"I can tell you right now this will be a very unpopular decision," Longoria said. "Not just with employees but with parents."